Trip Advisor . . . Ship Advisor . . . Shit Advisor

---

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Well, off to another Caribbean adventure . . . you didn’t think we’d actually try it again, did you? First of all, we said no ships this time (not sure if we will actually ever cruise again). We decided to go to St. John because we wanted somewhere warm, quick and close. My friend Jane actually made the bold statement that St. John is better than Hawaii . . . that definitely intrigued us, as Kauai is our dream home spot.

So we made it out to JFK by 5:30 am . . . both of us on maybe 2 hours of sleep . . . but we were there! It’s a quick three and a half hour flight to St. Thomas with no one on the plane so had our own rows to sleep in . . . bonus already! From St. Thomas we had to take a cab ride over to a ferry. Interesting fact: In St. Thomas they drive on the left side of the road . . . but here’s the really weird thing - the driver’s seat is still on the left. Strange . . . strangely unsafe that is, right?

Although the drive to the ferry is about 30-40 minutes, the ferry ride is only about 10, so you can obviously see St. John from St. Thomas. The two of us sat at the front of the ferry taking in the glorious sun. We could see our resort on the water Gallows Point . . . but no beach. Hmmmm . . .

A quick taxi to the resort from drop-off and we try to check in . . . what? No reservation for us? Of course! This is how the Broihiers travel -.hardly anything we can’t handle . . . they find it after about 20 minutes. We had booked a travel package through Expedia so who knows . . .

So Gallows Point . . . First, let me say that we love B&Bs . . . we do. However, Gallows Point is advertised as a resort, but really it’s kind of like your own little B&B, which is adorable . . . but there is no beach, a pathetic excuse for a pool (and I’m not being a hotel snob here, by anyone’s standards the pool is not good, no spa and no gym. Unfortunately this wasn’t what we had planned on. For Sean pool and beach are mandatory and for me, well, pretty much all of the above . I know - we clearly didn’t do our research, but Trip Advisor ranked this place #1! Needless to say, we went off to lunch and planned our escape.

We had a great Mexican lunch at Cactus Bar & Grill place close by where we spoke to the locals about where the good beaches are - the waiter/bar tender said Caneel Bay has the best beaches but a little farther away from town (and as we soon found way out of our price range) and the Westin resort which has a man-made beach but fits all of our other requirements. My confrontational husband is currently trying to get us out of Gallows Point while I sit and bog. All I have to say is don’t believe everything you read on Trip Advisor. Remember what your priorities are and stick to them. I am now going to begin to give back to the travel community . . . Gallows Point - 2 thumbs down.

---